Homecoming
by serafina19
Summary: "She had heard everything, but she had found out too late... and she hadn't been there."  An angst companion piece to "What She Represents."  Warning: Major spoilers for Masquerade and Fortune.


_Author Note: Last night, I basically broke down, scared that I was screwing a bunch of things up. To calm myself down, I began to listen to Adele's "Hometown Glory" with every intention of losing myself in the melody, but instead I ended up writing this. But as I was re-reading __simply-steffv__ 's "__Cause you know that I'm always all for you__," this suddenly came to me and I had to write it. Considering my current state of mind, I'm not sure how good it is, but hopefully you enjoy it._

* * *

**Homecoming**

She could feel the air leave her lips as his hand touched her cheek, see the half-smile that came across his face when she leaned into it, smell the residue of leather from the Green Arrow suit as she buried her face into his chest.

She had heard everything that happened, but she had found out too late... and she hadn't been there.

He was struggling against the darkness, his own fears, and she had been across the country. He needed her, but she wasn't there, she didn't know.

No one had bothered to tell her, which tore her apart. All this time, the man she loved had been internally fighting into the very thing they were trying to destroy and they left her in the dark. Why, she wondered as she began to feel the tears come down her cheeks. She wasn't running away from Metropolis, she was just waiting for him to come back, but even he didn't tell her...no one did, not her best friend, her cousin, her allies.

Maybe they didn't want her to worry, maybe they didn't want her to see him like that, maybe they didn't want to risk losing her to virtual reality again, but all that infuriated her further. He was her husband, she had just got him back, and losing him while she sat on the sidelines would have destroyed her.

When she had seen him get out of the cab, she had blinked a couple times and even pinched herself as she looked out the penthouse window. When he still remained in her sight, she ran to the door, not even bothering with shoes and desperately pressed the button. The elevator doors opened and she pressed the lobby button with as much anxiety and tried to control her breathing as the numbers slowly decreased.

The doors had opened and he stood on the other side, surprised to see her. Not even letting him say hello, she threw herself into his arms, clutching the back of his suit jacket in her fists.

She wasn't normally this emotional, but the knowledge he was okay had overwhelmed her words and emotions. He understood that, as he just soothingly patted her back and kissed the top of her head.

Eventually, she tilted her head up so she could see his eyes, but she saw them, she found herself biting her bottom lip in an attempt to hold back the tears. Meanwhile, he continued stared at her. He could see the worry in her glassy green eyes, so he lifted his hand and caressed her cheek, and she had leaned into it, grateful for every touch he gave her.

Pressing her face against his chest again, she felt the tears stopping and she slowly loosened her grip on his jacket. When she took a step back, she trailed her hands from around his back to his hands because in that moment, she didn't want to let go.

As her eyes found his again, she finally managed to find her voice, "Don't... don't do that to me again."

Seeing her pain, he leaned down and captured her lips, pushing her back against him, because he had missed her just as much as she missed him. Her new job had kept her in California, but all the time he was away, he was thinking of her, coming back to her. And now she was here, and it made the struggle with it... the victory that much sweeter.

They eventually backed away when air was necessary. She went back to her normal height while watching him grab her hand before pressing the elevator button.

"Let's go home," he said softly.

She nodded and whispered, "Home," to herself. He was home, this was _their_ home, and their life together wasn't ending. No... it was just beginning.


End file.
